By JUSTIN HAUSER and AARON SMITH
USBC Communications
LAS VEGAS – The strikes were rolling in during singles competition Thursday and Friday at the 2024 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, with three perfect games taking place at the South Point Bowling Plaza over a 24-hour stretch.
Six 300s now have been rolled at the 2024 tournament, with five of them occurring in singles.
Michael Guernsey II of Liverpool, N.Y., earned his spot in the tournament’s record book Thursday after starting his singles set with 12 strikes.
The 34-year-old right-hander followed with games of 200 and 201 to finish his eighth appearance at the USBC Open Championships with a 701 series.
Guernsey had been picking up momentum through his doubles set, finishing with 228 and 235 for a 665 series prior to connecting for all 12 in Game 1 of singles.
He had 639 in team to post his highest all-events total at the Open Championships (2,005)
Clint Land of Katy, Texas, also delivered his 300 in Game 1 of singles, and the right-hander who had just celebrated his 40th birthday also made a run at 800 on Friday at the Bowling Plaza.
After moving into the top 15 in Regular Doubles with Brad Maltman of Marion, N.Y., with a 1,385 total, Land had games of 300 and 246 to start singles.
An open in the fourth frame put him out of contention for the lead in Regular Singles, but he followed with five consecutive strikes. He needed to add three more strikes in the 10th to become the fifth bowler at the 2024 event to record an 800 series.
His first shot of the final frame went high, leaving the 3 pin, but Land covered the spare and knocked down nine pins on his fill ball to finish with 232 for a 778 series to take over third place in Regular Singles.
Shawn Evans and Nicholas Fisher of Palm Bay, Fla., lead Regular Doubles with 1,531, and Joe Barket of Morro Bay, Calif., has the top spot in Regular Singles with 806.
Land’s 778 set is the highest of his 14 years at the Open Championships, and he also finished with his best all-events total at the tournament to move into the top 15 of Regular All-Events with 2,078. He had 681 in doubles and 619 in team.
Land and his teammates – Maltman, Andy Smith, Robert Sanch III and Gregory Kuehnl – also landed in the top 10 for Team All-Events. The members of Selfish Dolphins of DeWitt, Michigan, are ninth with 9,565.
The lead in Regular All-Events is shared by Collin Howe of Riverton, Ill., and Kevin McCune of Munster, Ind., with 2,179, and Trip 4 Pro Shop of St. Clair Shores, Mich., leads Team All-Events with 9,970.
Jermey Wolfe of Watertown, Wis., rolled 22 consecutive strikes over his three games in singles Friday, connecting for his 300 during Game 2 at the Bowling Plaza.
The 53-year-old right-hander started his string of strikes in the fifth frame of Game 1 on the way to a 257 start, and he didn’t miss again until the third frame of Game 3.
Wolfe maintained his run toward the lead in Regular Singles until the eighth frame of Game 3, and he finished with 211 for a 768 series – the top set of his 29 appearances at the Open Championships – to move into fourth place in Regular Singles.
His striking on Friday started in doubles competition. After a slow start with 164, Wolfe found his rhythm to finish with 247 and 278 for a 689 series to move into the top 20 of Regular Doubles with Ronald Wallenkamp of Sussex, Wis. (1,360).
Wolfe added 624 in team for a 2,081 all-events tally and currently is tied for 11th place in Regular All-Events.
The 2024 Open Championships got underway Feb. 23 and will run through July 29 at the South Point Bowling Plaza. The tournament is scheduled to feature more than 11,000 teams and 55,000 bowlers making their way to compete in Las Vegas.